Vice-president of Research and Innovation and Strategic Initiatives

Fans following every twist and turn of the HBO series The Last of Us have found themselves intrigued by its premise – based on a 2013 video game, the series is set 20 years into a pandemic caused by a mass fungal infection, which causes its hosts to transform into zombie-type creatures.

Leah Cowen

With the season finale on March 12 approaching, Leah Cowen, co-director of the fungal kingdom program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives, spoke with CBC Radio’s The Current about the staggering impact of fungi on our world – from benefits to threats.

“They're the only organisms that are causing extinctions in real time. There are millions of different kinds of fungal species out there, and they cause different kinds of infections,” Cowen, a professor in the department of molecular genetics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, told host Matt Galloway.

“Some of them you can acquire by inhaling spores that are widespread in the environment. Some of them are already inside your body and living there as sort of natural members of your microbiota. And so there are different kinds of infection … all the way through to invasive disease, which would be disseminated through the bloodstream – and those are the ones that are really deadly.”

While fungi may not turn people into zombie-like creatures like on The Last of Us, they do kill an estimated 1.5 million people each year and can threaten the health of immunocompromised people, Cowen said, noting that despite such serious implications, research into fungi remains underfunded.

The fungal world does have its benefits, Cowen pointed out – including helping plants to “colonize the planet,” their ability to break down plastics and help with carbon capture – but more study of both the positives and negatives would further reveal the full complexity of these organisms.

Cowen, who admits she hasn’t yet seen The Last of Us, said that understanding fungi could help us better understand ourselves.

“Fungi are actually closely related to humans. It may not look like it – but in fact, it's true,” she said. “Which means that fungi serve as fantastic model organisms – so we can study the function of genes or biological processes in a simpler system and be able to learn what might be relevant in the context of more complex organisms and human biology and disease.”

Listen to Leah Cowen on The Current

A night of big ideas: Celebrating 50 years of the Connaught Fund at U of T

mattimar — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 19:15:26 +0000

A night of big ideas: Celebrating 50 years of the Connaught Fund at U of T

mattimar Mon, 12/12/2022 - 14:15

Cutline

From left: Renée Hložek, Maydianne Andrade and Ronald Deibert discuss the importance of university research and the next big ideas to influence our society, with journalist Mary Ito (all photos by Polina Teif)

Mariam Matti

Topic

Breaking Research

Department of Biological Sciences

Leah Cowen

Vice-president of Research and Innovation and Strategic Initiatives

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Citizen Lab

Connaught Fund

Faculty of Arts & Science

Political Science

President Meric Gertler

Research and Innovation

U of T Scarborough

The dangers of international digital espionage. The earliest moments of the universe. How scientists can also be activists and changemakers.

These were some of the topics University of Toronto researchers delved into at a recent event celebrating the impact of the Connaught Fund, which has supported research excellence and innovation across the university for 50 years.

Members of the community gathered at Convocation Hall to hear Ronald Deibert, Renée Hložek and Maydianne Andrade discuss the impact of their research and the role of university researchers in society. A professor in the department of political science in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Deibert is also director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Hložek is a cosmologist and associate professor at the Dunlap Institute and the David A. Dunlap Department for Astronomy and Astrophysics in the Faculty of Arts & Science. Andrade, a University Professor in the department of biological sciences at U of T Scarborough and an expert on the black widow spider, is a leading advocate for equity and inclusion.

Over the years, the Connaught Fund has supported the pathbreaking work of all three researchers – part of what President Meric Gertler called the fund’s “extraordinary legacy” in his opening remarks.

“Not only does the Connaught Fund support research excellence from diverse disciplines and across different career stages it also supports inclusive excellence,” he said.

President Gertler said the Connaught Indigenous Funding Stream, which supports Indigenous community-driven research at U of T, and the Connaught Major Research Challenge for Black Researchers, which will strengthen the research capacity of U of T’s Black academics, are two initiatives that deepen the university’s commitment to education and discovery.

Created in 1972 from the sale of the Connaught Laboratories, the Connaught Fund has since given out more than $179 million to researchers across myriad disciplines – and is Canada’s largest internal university research funding program.

“The program supports global challenges, community partnerships and offers dedicated funding streams to help increase the research impact of PhD students, Black and Indigenous researchers and U of T-led startup companies,” said Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.

Andrade, renowned for her research on sexual selection, mating behaviour and the biology and ecology of black widow spiders, focused her presentation on activism in science and how she has leveraged her platform to create change.

“Scientists should stay in their lane – I’ve heard this a lot,” she said. “Our job is to create solutions and knowledge that other people who understand policy will then apply. But of course, advising solutions is not the same as solving a problem.”

As the co-founder and president of the Canadian Black Scientists Network and founder and co-chair of the Toronto Initiative for Diversity and Excellence, Andrade has worked to increase inclusion within institutions across Canada through education and advocacy.

Deibert, meanwhile, has contributed to the publication of more than 120 reports covering research on cyber espionage, commercial spyware, internet censorship and human rights. His talk explored Citizen Lab’s research into targeted digital espionage against civil society, outlining major cases that have received international attention and have prompted scandals in countries such as Greece, Spain and Mexico.

In her work, Hložek uses statistical methods and precise observations to answer cosmic questions.

“I’m interested in what the universe is made of, how it’s changing over time and then eventually how it’s going to end,” she said.

Hložek presented some of the observations used to put together the puzzle pieces of the universe and emphasized the importance of telescopes in her research.

The presentations were followed by a roundtable discussion hosted by broadcast journalist Mary Ito. Audience members had a chance to ask questions and the researchers discussed the importance of university research and the next big ideas to influence our society.

“I’m really encouraged by the growth of the field which I’m a part of,” said Deibert. “We are seeing a healthy community worldwide of people who are involved in this type of digital accountability work. The hope I have is that the field continues to grow.”

“I think it’s a responsibility of the universities to do this type of public accountability research.”

New U of T Entrepreneurship director looks forward to the future

sungjimi — Tue, 26 May 2020 14:32:09 +0000

New U of T Entrepreneurship director looks forward to the future sungjimi Tue, 05/26/2020 - 10:32

University of Toronto Entrepreneurship (UTE) has a new director. Jon French took up the reins May 19 in a role that supports the university’s entrepreneurship initiatives across three campuses, as well as industry, government and other partners fostering innovation.

French comes from NEXT Canada, a network made up of Canada’s top academics, entrepreneurs, investors and founders that helps build the next generation of innovators, and brings a vast network and a pan-Canadian perspective to the job.

“The University of Toronto is an internationally recognized institution for innovators and entrepreneurs and we’ve developed numerous programs that support and accelerate new companies,” said Vivek Goel, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. “Jon is a nationally established leader in developing entrepreneurship programs and we’re delighted he will be leading U of T Entrepreneurship and joining our thriving startup community.”

French said he is incredibly proud to be joining U of T, one of the world’s top research universities with a strong track record of commercializing this research and nurturing a start-up mindset amongst students, alumni and faculty. In the last decade, U of T entrepreneurs have created more than 500 companies, securing more than $1.5-billion in investment in areas such as artificial intelligence and health sciences.

“U of T is a global destination for students who want to do research and launch ventures,” said French. “As we slowly emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting innovative responses to new challenges will be critical to getting the country back on track from an economic perspective. Small businesses remain essential to the success of this country.”

French will support the continued success of the entrepreneurship initiatives across U of T’s three campuses and provide leadership to the UTE team and ONRamp – a 15,000-square-foot facility that hosts numerous initiatives supporting entrepreneurs and startups. He will also be a central liaison to U of T’s many industry, government and other partners that foster entrepreneurship, and will support the development of startup programs based in the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre.

“UTE champions the work of entrepreneurs and shines a light on their accomplishments. At the same time, we can support entrepreneurs who haven’t faced the kind of crisis we are currently going through and help them to pivot to new opportunities, as so many have already,” said French.

French, who worked with NEXT Canada for nine years, most recently as senior director of global recruitment, community and alumni, also brings a national perspective on how to deliver entrepreneurship programs across the country.

Jon has served on the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Career Educators & Employers (CACEE), DECA and Venture for Canada. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business, York University. He recently completed the Rotman School of Management’s executive program on artificial intelligence.

New U of T Entrepreneurship director looks forward to the future

Photo courtesy of Jon French

Marina Jimenez

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Vice-president of Research and Innovation and Strategic Initiatives

Zombies aren’t real – but fungal health threats are: U of T’s Leah Cowen on CBC Radio

Listen to Leah Cowen on The Current

Read more at CBC’s health newsletter Second Opinion

A night of big ideas: Celebrating 50 years of the Connaught Fund at U of T

New U of T Entrepreneurship director looks forward to the future